Bobby Jindal asks Republicans to get heads examined

Washington, Feb 5 (IANS) Louisiana's Indian American Governor Bobby Jindal has brushed off speculation about the 2016 presidential race, saying any Republican already considering a bid needs to get his or her "head examined."

"Anybody on the Republican side even thinking or talking about running for president in 2016, I've said, needs to get their head examined," Jindal said on Fox News's "Fox & Friends."

"And the reason I say that is, we've lost two presidential elections in a row, we need to be winning the debate of ideas-then we'll win elections," he said cautioning against "nonstop" presidential campaigning.

"The country doesn't need four years of non-stop presidential-we just inaugurated a new term of this president's second term," said Jindal, often mentioned as a 2016 presidential contender.

Instead, the new head of the Republican Governors Association suggested the party should focus on examining where the party went wrong during the 2012 cycle.

"We as Republicans need to reject identity politics, reject this divisiveness, and instead appeal to what really unites us as Americans," Jindal said.

Jindal, who has emerged as a vocal critic of his own party since the November election, told the Republican National Committee's meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina, last month that it needed to "stop being the stupid party."

Reiterating those remarks on Fox News Monday, he said that Republicans need to rethink how they're talking to Americans.

"A majority of American voters think that the government is trying to do too much. They want smaller government yet they still voted for President Obama - that means we're not winning the conversation. We're not presenting our ideas. We're not in that debate as well as we should be," Jindal said.

But Donald Trump, the real estate mogul and reality TV star criticised Jindal saying his "the stupid party," remarks lent credence and power to the Democrats.

Trump also told Fox News he did not fault Jindal for his overall message. However, he said the use of the word "stupid" puts the Republicans at a disadvantage by handing a new sound bite to the Democrats.